Italy - Roma (March 17-20)

March 17
We arrived in Rome airport and found a place to stay, Youth Hostel Station in the Bologna area near the university. Pretty convenient to take the train and then the metro, no real hassles except a minor problem with the train but we made it. The hostel is nice but had LOTS of young people staying there who have been pretty darn loud! Yikes. We didn't have much sleep so this day we basically ate, went on the Internet, and fell asleep for hours!

March 18 - Visiting the Ancient Sites
Today was our time to take most of the day to visit the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, the Forum, Fori Imperiale, etc. It was a day of walking and getting tired but worh the time. The line to get tickets was sort of long but a tour guide had two extra tickets so she sold them to us for $10 euros (1 cheaper then regular price). But, we had to walk along with our group of older Texans until they exited the Colosseum and we could get our tickets to go on to the Palatine. They also had a small exhibit of statues, reliefs, and some architectural pieces to view. Like Greece, it was strange to walk around the corner of the city and find the huge Colosseum right there before you! You could almost imagine the fighting of the gladiators and animals that used to come from below the main level. Now the main level of the arena portion is missing but you can see the levels below where the animals were housed. The gate where the gladiators came in was called the Live Gate and where all but one went through after being killed was the Death Gate. Only one survived! Gulp!

The Palatine Hill was the highest of the 7 hills of Roma and where Caesar lived. After leaving here we walked throught the Forum and then down Fori Imperiale which had a statue of Caesar and we ate a late lunch/dinner at a restaurant with a view of some other ancient ruins (and a few cats too!) On our way back to the metro we ran into a Peace Parade by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That was really interesting to see (but not really understand too much) the groups of people protesting. There were a few anti-Bush protests as well as both anti- Palestinian and Israeli groups. Finally, made it home to get some rest after a long day of walking!

March 19 - Touring the City Squares and Fountains
Today we took the metro to Piazza Spagna to see the Scalinata di Spagna (Spanish Steps) for some people watching. Later, we went by the Fontain di Tritone which was pretty impressive and then on to Fontaine di Trevi in Piazza Barberini. This fountain was designed by Benini and was huge and just gorgeous. After a bit of shopping here we headed to the Crypt of the Capuchins, talk about creepy but interesting. The church has a large crypt that is decorated with the bones of 4000 capuchin monks. I would say it was pretty eerie but beautiful in a strange way too. We had a nice dinner of pasta, surprise surprise!

March 20 - Vatican Musei: Sistine Chapel
Today, I went on my own to visit the Vatican Musei mainly to see the Sistine Chapel. The line to wait was huge and we had a train scheduled for later in the afternoon so I sucked it up and payed the extra euros for a guided tour that was going in 10 minutes. Turns out that was a great idea and our guide was really funny. She told us all sorts of fun stuff about the Sistine Chapel and the artists lives, etc. I will not bore you all with most of those details but I will say one thing I did not know: Michelangelo was imprisoned for 3 months by the Pope until he agreed to paint the Sistine Chapel. He was a sculptor and did not want to paint but I guess prison life turned him! The Chapel was just breathtaking, it literally brought tears to my eyes it was so beautiful. Everything including the Last Judgement were just magnificent. I can not begin to describe it to you. I also walked through the Basilica di St. Pietro which was also magnificent but in such a grandiose manner that it seemed a bit pompous. But, it was incredible to see Vatican City when I exited the Basilica.

Then on to our hostel and the train to Firenze! Ciao for now!